Bothered, Bewildered and Bewitched
by Rose White007
Summary: Juri takes a trip down memory lane, recalling the way Haruka dragged her kicking and screaming into acknowledging the depths of his love for her. One-shot. JurixHaruka


Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight or any of the related characters mentioned in this one-shot.

 **A/N: I imagine the songs 'I'm Gonna Make You Love Me', preformed by Play, & 'Escape', preformed by Enrique Iglesias, accurately portray Haruka's pursuit of Juri!**

He'd done it. After years and year and _years and years and years_ of trying he'd finally gotten her to spend time with him of her own volition.

However, Juri seriously doubted Haruka had realized that once she gave in she would go all out.

She laughed at the past now, smiled fondly upon recalling how incredibly annoying she'd found her older brother a mere twenty years ago. Had anyone been brave enough to tell her that she would one day cling to him the way she did now, she would have spat on their shoes and turned away with her nose in the air.

He had been _so_ bothersome. The way he followed her around, forced himself into her space and acted so desperate to be in her company had completely put her off him. Yet, she'd also been against the alternative. Rido-nii. She loved him very much, but he was too dark. Too intense.

The thought of him brought a frown to her face. She wanted to forgive his transgression, but it had been great. To take her blood without her consent was perhaps one of the greatest sins he could have ever committed.

Who was it that she'd called out to for help? Who was it that sensed something was wrong long before she did?

Haruka. Of course it was Haruka. Always taking care of her, always loving her more than he loved himself.

That was where Rido truly failed. She did not believe he was capable of feeling that deeply for her. He loved her, yes, obsessed over her and Haruka had done the same, but Rido would not wish for her happiness above his own. He was too selfish and too unwilling to acknowledge his failings.

Even so, she'd not chosen Haruka in that moment. She remembered it clearly, as though it had happened only days ago and not two decades in the past. It had been the start of a change in her heart.

/~/

 _A gathering of noble vampires, a party of sorts, and Juri watched the proceedings from the corner of her eye. Her enjoyment was marred by the knowledge that_ _ **he**_ _would follow behind her for the duration of the night. More than likely_ _ **he**_ _would pester her for a dance._

" _Juri."_

" _No."_

" _Juri, please–"_

" _Stop that!"_

 _She'd slapped his hand away when he reached for her, but now she could hardly stand to watch him dance with the Aidou_ _girl and yet she knew she had no reason to be jealous. Had she not refused him only ten minutes prior?_

" _Juri."_

" _Rido-nii." She'd inclined her head, but couldn't help leaning to see behind him, to watch Haruka dance with another. It made her blood boil._

" _Come with me for a moment, dearest sister."_

 _Had she not been distracted she would have noticed the manic gleam in his mismatched eyes. As it was she allowed her hand to be tucked into his arm without a second thought, walked away from the ballroom hoping Haruka had seen and that he would be insufferably envious._

 _It hadn't taken her long to realize her mistake, but Rido was older and stronger than she. When she tried to leave as they moved toward an empty room his grip tightened. When she told him to "Stop" he ignored her plea. When she cried out in pain as he bit too forcefully into her neck, calling for Haruka to come and save her, he laughed._

/~/

She knew now that Haruka had kept a watchful eye on her throughout the evening and when she was led away by their sibling he'd followed, already prepared to intervene should Rido harm her.

"Hmm," Juri sighed as she considered the battle that ensued. It had not been long, but it was definitive; Haruka successfully defeated Rido that night and he'd worn that gentle smile he always had whenever he looked at her.

She _also_ recalled trying very hard not to cry and failing spectacularly.

/~/

 _Her vision was blurring, yet she pressed on. Perhaps if she started speaking the tears would disappear._

" _I guess I should say-" Her voice wavered, but she tried to continue_ , _"–_ _thank you..."_

 _She couldn't do it. She couldn't_ _say anything to him, not when he insisted on looking at her that way! Why did he always wear that same stupid, sweet smile?! Did he think she would give in to him if he played nice? She knew better. Haruka wasn't nice, not at all. He was just as obsessive as Rido and yet, and yet–_

 _The tears fell as she choked on her words, droplets of salt water hitting the carpeted_ _floor while she refused to meet his eyes. She didn't want him to see her like this. It was bad enough that he knew how weak she was, unable to fight off Rido and calling to_ _ **him**_ _for help._

 _But he'd appeared. In the moment she needed him the most he'd been there to save her from their older brother's capricious ways. The second his name left her mouth he'd ripped Rido back with so much force that he lost an arm._

 _To top it off_ _ **he**_ _was injured as well and she knew it was her fault. If only she hadn't been so powerless._

/~/

She'd been mortified by her behavior and inability to rescue herself, but Haruka hadn't tried to use that event against her. Instead he took her into his arms, even as she halfheartedly tried to object, and jumped from the second story window into the warm air of a cloudless summer night.

/~/

 _Juri couldn't find it in herself to fight him; she wasn't even sure if she was really against it. In any case Rido had taken too much blood. More than she should have allowed and if she'd not been so hardheaded, if she'd called for assistance sooner, it wouldn't have been this bad. Of course she'd tried to force him from her person, attempted to beat him back. The last thing she'd wanted to do was ask for help._

 _But, here she was with_ _ **him**_ _heading for who knew where in the late hours of the night._

 _He strode forward with purpose, straight into the dense forest that surrounded the secluded mansion they'd been visiting for the night's festivities._

 _She couldn't help but wonder if_ _he actually was as dumb as she'd always accused him of being._

/~/

She realized the truth now. Haruka certainly wasn't foolish, far from it, and that night he'd known exactly where he was going.

/~/

 _Twenty_ _minutes. She'd been in his arms for twenty_ _minutes and she was about ready to jump down and run for it when they broke through a thick wall of trees._

 _She couldn't help but gasp._

 _Stars, so many twinkling stars lit up the black_ _sky above that she could hardly believe what she was seeing. It was too beautiful for words._

 _And then she realized that he was standing far too close to the edge of a cliff._

 _Her shriek of terror was so shrill that even_ _ **he** __winced, a grimace briefly replacing that irritatingly_ _soft expression on his face._

 _Without conscious thought she threw her arms around his neck, until that moment she'd kept them stubbornly folded_ _across her chest, and began demanding that he step back._

" _Back!" she yelled. "Back up right now! HARUKA!"_

/~/

She snickered at the memory; he'd been truly surprised by her reaction. For whatever reason, after near nine hundred years of knowing her, he'd never realized that she had a terrible fear of heights.

In the end though, she was the one left speechless.

/~/

" _I would never let you fall, Juri."_

 _She pinched her lips shut and turned her head away with a haughty, "Humph."_

 _It was only a cover though. The truth was she had nothing to fire at him, no insults to hurl._

 _She forgot to pull her arms away and it wasn't until they were back at the party, being scolded by their grandfather, that she realized her mistake._

/~/

Ah! She'd been so embarrassed! Even now she felt badly for herself. To be seen with Haruka that way, carried by him with her arms around his neck, had been humiliating! She couldn't even be properly angry at him for it because it was her mistake.

Yes, the entire thing had been her fault, but he covered for her.

/~/

" _Please don't scold Juri, Grandfather,"_ _ **he**_ _said. "I begged her to come with me."_

 _His lie was believed, indeed it was credible, and she escaped the brunt of the chiding while he was subjected to questioning about the blood that had been spilled in the upper room._

 _Had he fought with Rido? Yes._

 _Was it an argument over_ _their sister? Of course!_

 _His good humor grated on her nerves._

 _He got away with less of a talking to than normal though,_ _because when she realized that she was still being held a high-pitched screech ripped from her throat as she flailed in a decidedly unladylike manner, forcing Haruka to place her_ _on the ground; it was that or risk dropping her, something he'd promised to never do less than an hour ago._

 _They left soon after and she sat as far away from_ _ **him**_ _as she could manage in the car. However, upon returning home she balked at the front steps. What if Rido was inside? She couldn't face him, not yet, not after what he'd done, but if she didn't go inside Grandfather would question her hesitation._

 _She was_ _jarred from the whirl of upsetting thoughts by a hand ruffling_ _her hair._

 _There it was, the smile that she so deeply detested, but for some reason, this time, it brought a strange feeling of warmth to her heart. She could hardly accept it, but she recognized that Haruka's silent reassurance was making her feel safe._

 _Of course she resolved to never tell_ _ **him**_ _that._

/~/

Rido-nii had not been home that night and now, twenty years later, she'd yet to see him again. Grandfather mentioned meeting him occasionally, told them that Rido was pursuing his own interests, and whenever one of these meetings occurred a gift would be sent for Juri.

She'd never opened any of them and they sat collecting dust in a corner of Haruka's bedroom. She couldn't stand to look at them.

Truly she was tired of thinking of him. Rido would always be a permanent fixture in her life, but he was no longer someone who held power over her. She'd chosen the one most worthy of her love, but it hadn't been easy to do and the hardest part was admitting that she'd been wrong.

/~/

 _She definitely didn't like_ _ **him**_ _._

 _She didn't._

" _Juri," Sakura called her attention. "That brother of yours is at the gate again!"_

 _Her second round of_ _living among humans. She still appeared young enough to easily pass for a high school student and she'd decided to give this experiment another go. It was diverting, kept her mind off unpleasant matters and she enjoyed her days with humanity._

 _This time she'd opted to try a co-ed school. Both genders educated together. This decision had more to do with bothering Haruka than anything else, but she was making the most of the experience._

 _As best she could anyway. Haruka's continued presence served to scare away the male population of the school._

" _I wish my brother was more like Haruka-san. Instead all I get is a slob!"_

 _She'd grown used to this sort of talk. They didn't know how pesky he really was, didn't realize that coming to meet her everyday like this, and walking with her in the morning, was just a ploy to keep her to himself._

 _She strode past him without a word, ignored him as he followed behind. She had half a mind to turn down a random street, but she knew that wouldn't stop him. With a resigned huff_ _she took the usual route back to their shared home, silently cursing Grandfather for insisting on sending Haruka with her to a_ _vampire free area... Again._

 _She was in no danger here! She did not need a babysitter!_

 _Her anger would not change the situation, but she couldn't help feeling aggravated._

 _At the front door she quickly opened her school bag, fishing inside for the key, only to realize she didn't have it._

 _That was ridiculous. She always kept her_ _house key in the pocket–_

 _ **Him**_ _._

 _This reeked of a Haruka-esque plot and as he stepped up behind her onto the porch she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he'd stolen her key for this very purpose._

 _He stood too close and placed a hand on her shoulder while he tilted_ _forward to put the key in the lock._

 _She sent an elbow into his stomach at full force and left him doubled over, slamming the door closed behind her once she'd taken the key, and locked_ _it for good measure._

 _He could never know, never ever know, that she was blushing._

 _/~/_

Looking back she recognized that Haruka's fight with Rido had been the start of her regard and every day that passed from that point on was a small step toward falling in love, but she certainly hadn't had an easy time of it. In a way she was proud of her stubborn pride, she'd resisted Haruka's attempts for many years, but living together made it far more difficult.

/~/

 _She had the sneaking suspicion that Grandfather was in on it. It was too coincidental._

 _The plan had been in place since they left the mansion; the two would return home when Winter Break began to give an oral report on their time with the humans. So why, with only a day before they were to take the high speed rail, had they received a letter from Grandfather canceling their return?_

 _She took her time unpacking her luggage, fuming in silence. Everyone was against her, trying to push her toward Haruka. What made it unbearable was knowing that their efforts weren't completely in vain._

 _Haruka, fool that he was, had begun worming his way into her heart. Thankfully her responses to his advances were so ingrained that there was almost no chance of being found out, but the fact remained that change was on the horizon._

 _For example, she wasn't able to muster her usual level of disgust when he presented her with breakfast in bed. Oh, she'd shouted at him and threw a pillow at his retreating_ _figure, but she felt she lacked the conviction she normally had._

 _She'd not thrown away his offering, she never did, but she'd had a hard time convincing herself to take it downstairs untouched. To eat it would be unforgivable._

 _That was just the start of her difficulties. Every day he persisted in waiting on her and every day it grew harder to ignore him. He did everything from running the bath for her to doing all the cleaning. After five days of incessant attention she decided to try a new tactic: Demanding things of him._

 _Unfortunately that plan backfired in a major way. Ordering him around proved to be more fun than she'd anticipated and he seemed to have no desire to go against her will._

" _Masochist!" she shouted as she stood on the stairway with one hand on her hip and the other extended to point at her idiot older_ _brother. "Siscon!" She knew that wasn't much of_ _an insult in his eyes though; in fact, he probably took it as a compliment. "Annoying, irritating, frustrating, insufferable, Onii-sama!"_

 _He took her words without a hint of upset. Nothing she said was enough to send him running._

 _Arms at her sides, hands balled into fists, she closed her eyes and trembled in anger before stomping toward him and landing a serious blow to the top of his head._

 _Haruka_ _cringed, brought both his hands to the injured area. She knew she'd_ _hurt him, but it wasn't enough to do real damage and any pain would dissipate quickly._

 _While he was momentarily incapacitated she flounced past him, headed for the living room, but he recovered sooner than she'd expected him to and his voice stopped her._

" _Juri."_

 _She froze. She didn't want to hear it, whatever it was. She didn't have to listen to him. All she had to do was walk away–_

" _Juri."_

 _But she couldn't, so instead she crossed her arms, tossed her hair over her shoulder_ _and spoke in an irate_ _tone. "What? You're so gross, you know? You never fight back. You are definitely a masochist_ _and it's really, really, really annoyi–_ _"_

" _Juri, I love you."_

/~/

She giggled madly at the memory. It wasn't like he'd never said it before, but the impact was of a higher caliber. She remembered turning as red as a tomato, floundering for something to say that would hurt his feelings as he reached for her. Her eyes had widened and she'd been unsure if she was enraged or about to faint when he pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

She'd slapped him hard for that.

/~/

 _She escaped to the second floor, hid like the coward she was. What was that? What did he think he was doing? Kissing her hand, ha! What kind of fool was he? The worst kind! He was the worst kind of idiot imaginable!_

 _So, what did that make her? She was the one whose face burned with the heat of a thousand suns! She was the one who'd run up the stairs and slammed the door to his bedroom closed behind her._

" _Baka," she grumbled, covering her face with her hands. "Baka, baka!" She was so dumb! Why hadn't she run for her own room?_

 _His scent was almost dizzying._

" _Duh," she rolled her eyes at herself. Of course it would be, this was_ _ **his**_ _bedroom. Spicy, something like cinnamon, and sweet at the same time. Cinnamon and sugar, that was what he smelled like._

 _It made her mouth water._

 _She wanted to bite him so badly! He wouldn't refuse her, but it was embarrassing! She'd done a wonderful_ _job of resisting thus far, sustaining herself with human foods and donated blood sent to them by Grandfather. As a pureblood she could go far longer without it than most, but blood was still necessary on occasion or she would run the risk of harming a human._

" _Bite him." She flinched at the words of her inner voice; they were spoken without malice, but not without desire. "Go! Do it! Drink until he can hardly breathe and then make him bite you back."_

 _She hadn't thought it would be possible for_ _her face to take on a hue of crimson even darker than before._

/~/

"Phew," Juri fanned herself with a hand. Just thinking of it brought a measure of heat. That was the first time she'd ever experienced a craving for a particular person's blood. She'd drunk from both Rido and Haruka before, had siphoned their energy as a child, but she'd never desired one over the other.

She'd fought against the desire for as long as she could, but with each moment that passed it grew more and more impossible to ignore.

/~/

 _Her throat was on fire._

" _Go to him!"_

 _Her inner voice wouldn't shut up._

" _Go!"_

 _His cinnamon sugar scent was overwhelming her._

 _She stood suddenly, threw open the door and careened straight into Haruka who, she was unsurprised to note, had_ _been waiting for her reappearance just outside the door._

 _It was unceremonious. She didn't ask for permission as she put her hands on his shoulders and tried to force him down to her level, but it seemed he understood._

 _He was on_ _his knees as she ran her tongue up his neck and slid her fangs into his flesh. His hands rested_ _on her waist, but she hardly noticed. His blood tasted even better than she remembered, similar to the way he smelled yet more potent._

 _His thoughts and feelings spilled into her mind as she drank and_ _she couldn't help noticing that he was deriving inordinate amounts of pleasure from this._

 _She didn't want to stop, honestly she would have been happy to drink him dry, but she had more restraint than that and upon detaching she declared, "HENTAI! From now on I'm calling you Hentai Haruka!_ _"_

 _She wasn't sure that he would reply, his eyes were hooded and the way he looked at her made her flush, but he regained use of his voice_ _to plead,_ _"_ _Please don't," and promptly passed out._

/~/

"Where is he?" she muttered. Thinking of him made her want him, which was really a 'round the clock problem but it was more noticeable at the moment.

With a sound of aggravation Juri placed her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. Even now he annoyed her, but it was more of a fond struggle these days. Back then she hadn't known how to deal with the new emotions or the realization that Haruka had been hiding an awful lot about the way he felt for her.

/~/

 _She was tempted to leave him in a heap on the floor, but even she wasn't quite that heartless so she fetched a blanket and pillow from his bed, then thought better of it and retrieved_ _the same items from her room._

" _Torment," she murmured. This was what he deserved for what he'd subjected her to._

 _Thoughts like that, about her, he was a new breed of siscon. Haruka was the lowest of the low, the worst of the worst and yet she was almost flattered. She could have kicked herself for her stupidity and blindness. How had she never realized this about him?_

 _It wasn't that she'd been unaware of what he was after, but at the same time he'd never been explicit and she'd never tried to think deeply on the subject. To feel what he felt like that was more than she'd expected. She'd always considered him an open book, but he'd kept more to himself than she'd thought possible._

 _This would be a challenge. She didn't think she could resist drinking from him anymore, but did she want to experience that again? What did it mean in practical terms?_

 _There was a more pressing concern to deal with first though. When he woke he would need to drink. Would she offer hers or make him take the donated blood?_

 _It would be beyond rude of her to withhold her blood from him, but she realized that even a day ago she would have done it without any concern whatsoever._

 _Even so, she knew that this was different. To turn him away would be a massive rejection of his feelings and though she'd always pushed him she'd never outright said he wasn't allowed to care about her. If she refused him now she would be fully rejecting everything he'd made obvious._

 _She couldn't find it within herself to do that._

 _It was with fear that she waited for him to wake again. Sitting with her back to the wall, legs pulled up to her chest, she watched him. Each minute grew longer than the last and she could hardly stand to allow him to sleep on. She wanted desperately to send a kick to his face and force him into wakefulness, just to get it over with, but she held out._

 _In the end it was only about ten minutes that he remained unconscious and she felt her entire body stiffen as he shifted into sitting position._

 _Her gaze bounced around the hall, looking anywhere but at_ _him_ _, waiting for the inevitable to begin. What would she feel? What would he see? What would she taste like to him?_

 _And then he_ _stood. Her eyes snapped to his face to find that ever present smile and then he turned away to descend the staircase._

 _She stared after him with her mouth hanging open. Had he... Had_ _ **he**_ _just rejected_ _ **her**_ _? Impossible. This was impossible._

 _She felt like the biggest fool that had ever been born. Her mortification led her to shout unintelligible nonsense and scream into the pillow._

 _All her worry had been for nothing. He didn't want her blood anyway._

/~/

Yes, that memory was clear as day. For the first time she'd feared that perhaps Haruka didn't actually desire her the way she'd thought he did. His blood told a different story, but she'd wondered if his feelings had changed once he woke up.

Juri paced from one side of the sitting room to the other, swiped imaginary dust from her skirt. He was on the edge of incurring her wrath. She'd had a whole 'Welcome Home Haruka' display planned and where was he? An hour late!

Well, forty-five minutes.

Alright, so it was only ten past the hour, but it felt longer!

She wasn't going to wait forever...

Okay, so she would, but that didn't make his lateness any more acceptable!

/~/

 _It didn't seem like anything had changed and yet_ _ **everything**_ _had changed. At least for her it had, but what about him? He was still the same imbecile older brother with a monumental sister complex, he continued to do things for her that she very well could have done for herself, and he never complained about anything at all._

 _Not that she gave him much reason to anymore, she didn't have the will for it. Over the days that followed the blood drinking incident she found herself accepting what he offered involuntarily, instead of casting shades of disrespect. The haughty attitude she put on was merely an act and hardly a shadow of what she'd thrown at him previously._

 _She couldn't stand it. She had to know what he meant by it, but she didn't want to ask._

 _But she had to know._

 _But she Didn't. Want. To. Ask._

 _But she_ _ **really**_ _had to know so one snowy day she gave into her burning curiosity._

 _She marched up to him as he returned indoors from shoveling the walkway and demanded answers before she could chicken out._

" _Why didn't you want_ _ **my**_ _blood?!"Her heavy breathing served as a sign of her discomfort, but she could do little about it. "Why not?! Explain yourself!"_

 _He blinked at her._

 _Her fists clenched. "If you don't explain yourself in about ten seconds I'm going to hate you forever!"_

 _That got him talking. "Juri."_

 _Her eye twitched._

" _You didn't want me to drink from you."_

 _She staggered back, hit the banister and fell to the floor. Haruka stepped closer, obviously concerned but she shouted, "No! Go away!" and he did as she directed, but she noticed it. His smile wasn't there._

 _What look was that? How dare he look at her that way! How dare he try to be considerate of her like that! He hadn't taken her blood because she didn't want him to. What did he know? Presumptuous! Foolish!_

 _He was nothing like Rido._

/~/

She was about to go out of her mind, she felt sure of it. This would be the end. When Haruka returned, if he ever did, he would find her dead in the middle of the floor, which was where she'd thrown herself after a full two minutes of pacing, and it would serve him right.

Juri was not to be kept waiting under any circumstances, she'd thought he understood that unspoken rule.

She scoffed. Unspoken rules. She had a plethora of them, especially when it came to the way she was to be treated, but Haruka didn't seem to have any to enforce. How ever she treated him was fine. How ever she spoke to him was fine.

And she let him get away with breaking her rules.

/~/

 _She went to the local shrine_ _on the first day of the new year with her school friends. And Haruka._

 _Honestly, she felt as if she'd gone alone because they were all hanging onto_ _ **him**_ _and it bothered her more than she thought it should. It wasn't that they ignored her, but they were obviously more interested in her brother._

 _She kept her complaints to herself, didn't feel like she had the right to voice anything about it anyway. After he'd told her of his reason for abstaining from her blood she could barely speak to him. It was shame that plagued her now, mixed with a bit of awe. She'd been blindsided by the depth of Haruka's thought process. She had always known that he and Rido-nii were different, but this was a stark contrast._

 _The shrine_ _was busy, full of New Years visitors and before she knew what was happening Juri found herself separated from the group, lost to the throngs of revelers._

 _Anger colored_ _her cheeks. This was what she got for inviting Haruka along. It had been a ridiculous attempt to repay the favors she owed him and now she was reaping the benefits._

 _Getting all dressed up in a yukata... Why had she done it? The other girls had as well, so she had a plausible excuse, but the truth was far more embarrassing. In the end her angst was for nothing because Haruka hadn't said a word about it._

 _She was on her way to being thoroughly_ _unhappy when_ _a familiar voice spoke her name._

" _Juri."_

 _A jump to the left nearly put her in the path of two hyperactive children, but Haruka pulled her into the safety of his arms before leading her away from the main path._

 _She tried to protest his holding her, with an arm around her back and his other hand grasping_ _one of hers, but her objections fell on deaf ears. He followed_ _a deserted footpath_ _to it's end at a small reflection pool and even then refused to release her._

" _Tch," she grumbled. "What's with you? I told you to let go!"_

" _This time..."_

 _She balked._

" _This time I want you to listen to me, Juri."_

 _She shook her head. She didn't want to hear it. Somehow she knew that what he told her would lead to an irreversible decision. "I don't want to," she tried to pull away, but it seemed he was serious._

" _Juri, you know that I love you–"_

" _Stop it!"_

"– _but the time to be kind is over now. You are no longer_ _a child."_ _He ignored her glare. "And you've never been ignorant of our positions. Grandfather is concerned, rumors have begun to spread. You must make a choice."_

" _Fine!" she hissed. "I will, just let me–"_

" _No, Juri. Now."_

 _She was shocked by his behavior. Haruka had never been one to give orders, not to her at least. This was an immense departure from his usual conduct and she wasn't sure how to react._

 _The things he said weren't a surprise. She knew their grandfather had worried over the task_ _she faced_ _and it was no wonder that talk had sprung up after the incident at the party, but in the end she didn't know what kind of judgment_ _she was supposed to make._

 _She would not accept Rido, she couldn't imagine being tied to him for all their long lives especially after he'd disrespected her so profoundly. Unfortunately that left only one option and she'd never been open to that._

 _Haruka was the logical choice by omission. The youngest son of the pureblooded Kuran family, her older brother and someone who loved her. But, did she love him? She craved his blood and his attention, though she'd fought hard against both feelings for many years, and she grew jealous when his time was monopolized by others..._

 _The revelation was astounding and she was hard pressed to admit to it, but she recognized that she needed to say something. "Okay! Okay, I understand." She shut her eyes tightly, told_ _herself that she wasn't a_ _coward and forced the words from her mouth. "Haruka, you can tell Grandfather that he doesn't have to worry because... Because I choose you!"_

/~/

The door to the sitting room opened and Haruka stepped in to find an artfully splayed Juri resting upon the floor. It appeared that she was holding her breath in an attempt to play the part of a corpse, but he would not be fooled by that sort of childish prank.

Not again.

So, rather than acknowledge her, he left the room.

She came charging through the doorway not a moment later, grabbed him around the neck and yelled, "Haruka! Don't you care that I could have _died_ while you were gone?"

"I care about everything you do."

"Ack," she turned aside and gagged. "You're so gross. Stop that! Hentai Haruka!"

"I thought I asked you to please never call me that again! Juri!"

"Eh? What was that? Say it again? Well, if the shoe fits... Hentai Haruka!"

"Juri!"

"Hentai, hentai Haruka! Ah, you're such a creepy masochist!" She was pushing it, she knew she was. His annoyance was almost palpable. "You stick to me like glue and it's such a pain!"

There it was. He frowned.

She hid her smirk by turning away. It was too easy to rile him, there was no challenge in it, but she enjoyed it all the same. "Oh well, I guess I spent all that time missing you for nothing. I had a big surprise planned and everything, but you went and ruined it so–!"

Her back hit the wall as his hands came to rest on either side of her head. "Tell me."

"I don't think so. You were late."

"Juri."

"Nope."

" _Juri_."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. You don't get to see it, but I found my old school uniform and it still fits perfectly!" She ducked away as he gaped. "Too bad for you!"

His reaction was delayed, but not enough for her to put any great distance between them and he'd captured her after a thirty second chase.

In his arms now, without fighting against him, she remembered how hard it had been for her to accept that he really did love her, but humans said hindsight was 20/20 and in this case she thought them correct. She knew now that all of Haruka's bothersome advances had been exactly the right way to win him the top spot in her heart.

Still, there was no reason to tell **him** that.

 **A/N: I love them so much right now. I don't know what it is about JurixHaruka, but I wish more bonus chapters about them would be released even though Vampire Knight is finished!**


End file.
